The Boston Celtics played a very interesting game against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. Rather than dominate the game with a huge volume of three-point attempts, they chose to go inside. Led by Kristaps Porzingis, Boston poured in 48 points in the paint against a Nikola Jokic-less Nuggets squad.
Porzingis was lethal inside the arc, using a variety of post moves to score or get to the line almost every chance he got. He even made some extra efforts to attack the glass more than usual, which earned the Celtics extra-chance opportunities. Porzingis completely dominated almost every matchup he saw.
And Jrue Holiday let the people know about it after the game.
Kristaps Porzingis isn't even 100% yet, and he dominated the Nuggets
When asked about Porzingis’ performance, Holiday said that he thinks Porzingis is only about 85% back to being his usual self.
“I’m guessing he’s about 85% back,” Holiday said via CLNS. “But he looks good. Today, he looked really good. Obviously, starting off, knocking down threes, getting into the paint. Got us that early lead. Him kind of leading the charge. Obviously, when KP’s playing well, we’re pretty tough to beat.”
"[Porzingis] looked really good ... when KP is playing well we're pretty tough to beat." –– Jrue Holiday@RealBobManning asked Jrue if he's feeling back to himself: "I'm a little older than KP, so it takes me a little longer."
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) January 8, 2025
FULL Celtics Postgame Interview:… https://t.co/TTZq4r4UZn pic.twitter.com/rGUVa3BWQQ
Porzingis came back from offseason surgery to repair a foot issue at the end of November, and since then, he’s dealt with a myriad of different lower-leg injuries, including ankle and calf problems.
But he was nothing short of dominant on Tuesday. Obviously, the performance comes with the caveat that the Nuggets were short-handed, but still. If that was 85% of what Porzingis can be, the rest of the league is in for a rude awakening.
Even when the Celtics made their run to the NBA Finals last year, they were without Porzingis for most of it. He went down in Game 4 of their first-round series against the Miami Heat and didn’t return until the Finals. Even then, he got hurt again in Game 2 and didn’t come back until Game 5.
So, if the Celtics can ensure Porzingis’ relative health until the playoffs again and get him back to 100%, he could look even better than he did against the Nuggets on Tuesday. At least in the eyes of Holiday, he can.
With Dario Saric in the starting lineup and DeAndre Jordan leading Denver’s bench big-man rotation, Porzingis was able to go to work. Boston constantly sought out matchups to get him quality post-touches, and from there, he led their offense.
If that’s what he can do at 85%, the NBA needs to prepare itself for a full-healthy Porzingis surrounded by the rest of this Celtics roster because they haven’t seen it in a long, long time.